Vietnamese American leaders: Charity funds safe

Jan. 16, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Saying at a news conference in Westminster that two checks addressed to a New York fund for Hurricane Sandy relief totaling $27,000 were deposited by mistake and that the money raised will still be donated to the relief fund, Bishop Van Tran holds up a fist full of envelopes saying he didn't throw them away because they represented the spirit of the people who gave. To the left is Kham Van Pham and Thich Minh Nguyen is right. STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

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With nearly 70 people attending, Bishop Van Tran talks during a news conference in Westminster about how two checks addressed to a New York fund for Hurricane Sandy relief totaling $27,000 were deposited by mistake and that the money raised will still be donated to the relief fund. STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

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Bishop Van Tran talks about how two checks addressed to a New York fund for Hurricane Sandy relief totaling $27,000 were deposited by mistake. STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

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A security guard tries to get Hoai-My Vu to leave a news conference regarding what happened with the money raised by the Orange County Vietnamese American community for victims of Hurricane Sandy, saying she was not a reporter. "I am a citizen of Garden Grove," she said a few times. After some discussion, she was allowed to stay. STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

Saying at a news conference in Westminster that two checks addressed to a New York fund for Hurricane Sandy relief totaling $27,000 were deposited by mistake and that the money raised will still be donated to the relief fund, Bishop Van Tran holds up a fist full of envelopes saying he didn't throw them away because they represented the spirit of the people who gave. To the left is Kham Van Pham and Thich Minh Nguyen is right.STEVEN GEORGES, FOR THE REGISTER

WESTMINSTER – Vietnamese American leaders who organized a fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy victims held a news conference Wednesday night to convey a message: Mistakes were made. There was a misunderstanding. But the money is safe.

They were responding to concerns from a Buddhist leader, Thich Quang Than, who questioned what happened to $27,000 raised for Hurricane Sandy victims.

Bishop Van Tran, president of the Orange County-based Vietnamese Interfaith Council in America, expressed umbrage at the implication that "the Sandy committee is stealing their money," saying Quang Thanh "has his own agenda to make those statements."

Tran and Neil Nguyen, also known as Nghia Xuan Nguyen, presented financial statements and detailed how donations were processed, with several copies of each check kept by different committees or individuals. Even the envelopes the donations came in were kept, they said.

"We didn't throw them away because they represent the spirit and wishes of the contributors," Tran said.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo Bank spokesman Gary Kishner said earlier Wednesday that the bank teller made a mistake in depositing the checks for $20,000 and $7,000 into the Interfaith Council's account. Both checks were addressed to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City.

"We made a mistake and we're trying to fix that right now," Kishner said.

Nguyen said members of his finance committee also made a mistake in depositing those two checks following fundraising events last December. The finance committee director, however, said he deposited the checks because he wanted to ensure their safety.

The money is part of some $200,000 pledged for victims of the storm, which struck the East Coast in October. Of that amount, $169,000 has been collected and the rest is expected to come in through credit card donations, Nguyen said.

Vietnamese American leaders said they plan to personally deliver the money at their own expense to New York City on Feb. 22 in a show of support from the Vietnamese American people to other Americans in need.

Quang Thanh, who heads the Chua Bao Quang temple in Santa Ana, said earlier this week he wanted the donations to be delivered to New York right away. He specifically did not want to wait until after the Feb. 10 Tet Parade for the money to arrive, he said.

The rumor, Tran and Nguyen said, is that the Sandy money is being used for the Tet Parade, but that is untrue, they told reporters gathered Wednesday night at the office of the Vietnamese American Federation of Southern California.

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